We’ve talked on our show many times about the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, which was implemented in 2000 and is now widely seen as highly out of date by just about everyone. We were less wired up as a society in 2000, advertising tracking was more rare, social networks as we know them today were non-existent. There’s been talk of scrapping it but the FTC yesterday came out in favor of making changes instead.
Child advocacy groups are happy with the changes, which include more definition on what a child’s “personal information” is. The purposed revisions would include restrictions on facial recognition, location tracking, and cookies (on your browser) for kids under 13.
The F.T.C. also suggested that parental consent should no longer be obtained through a two-step e-mail and authorization process, but through alternate methods, like getting scanned versions of signed consent forms and videoconferencing.
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